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Guardian
The Guardians are a variety of sessile Necromorph. They are anchored onto walls, their flesh fused together with the Corruption. As a consequence, they cannot actively hunt for prey, however they will instantly kill anything that comes nearby, striking the victim with a lethal scythe-tipped appendage, made from the host's intestines. Overview Guardians are made from a single human body that has been fused together with the Corruption growing on the walls, thus establishing a form of symbiosis. The transformation of the host is quite extensive and both its first and last stages can be witnessed. At the beginning, the host, or at this stage the immature Guardian, still retains its human characteristics; however, it's heavily mutilated. More specifically, the torso is only intact until waist-down, where the abdomen is vertically split apart with the entrails hanging out. At this stage, the newly formed Guardian is extremely weak and lethargic, easily dispatched and incapable of performing any kind of lethal attacks. At the very most, they will play dead until approached, or otherwise alerted, when the Corruption will attempt to cause damage by flailing out the host's intestines over which the host has no control. Despite the severity of the body's condition, it is clear that the host is still clinging onto life, still wailing in pain and agony. This fact further establishes the notion of a symbiotic relationship with the Corruption, as it would be not otherwise possible for a human being to live for so long having sustained such extensive damage. Given sufficient time, the torso will transform and ultimately develop to the stage of a mature Guardian. The fusion between the human body and the Corruption has been, for the most part, completed, with the two being indistinguishable from each other, with most of the human features of the host body being unrecognisable at this stage. While the Guardians do continue to scream and moan, suggesting that at least some part of the human brain is still functioning even at this stage, their transformation is otherwise very drastic. The first thing one notices is the apparent increase in size compared to the previous stage, a result of the fusion with the Corruption's biomass. Moreover, the human arms, that were a characteristic trait of the immature stage, have now disappeared, probably atrophied or otherwise consumed by the Corruption, as they currently serve no purpose. Alterations can also be seen on the head of the host, with the lower jaw and part of the neck completely missing, exposing the trachea and leading to a wide open thorax and a newly created sac where the abdomen used to be. The latter two are two body structures that have been re-purposed and created, respectively, in order to accommodate with the Guardian's functions. The thorax cavity now serves as a place for the newly created tentacle appendages to rest. The creature has two kinds of said appendages. The first kind, are the appendages that are used to further anchor the creature on its spot and are instantly drawn out once the Guardian has spotted a hostile in its vicinity. The second kind of these appendages however is a single scythe tipped tentacle that serves as the creature's only means of attack in close quarters and is what makes the Guardian extremely lethal. The sac is in fact an orifice that serves as a canal for the Corruption to spew out embryonic spawn, known as Pods, which will aid in attacking and keeping detected threats at a distance. Strategy *Severing all the Guardian's tentacles from its chest will kill it instantly. This is what you should try to do when encountering a Guardian. *If there is access to any kind of explosives, be it in the form of explosive canisters, or a weapon's firing mode, aim it and shoot it at the opening on the Guardian's chest, when all of its tentacles are drawn out, for an easy kill. *Do not open fire on a mature Guardian until it has released its tentacles onto the wall it is anchored to. If you shoot it before it notices you, you won't do any damage. *Always keep a distance from the Guardian at all costs. Attempting to get close to use close ranged weapons, such as the Ripper, is usually fatal, as the Guardian launches a bladed tentacle from its torso which can decapitate Isaac instantly. *Guardians spit out Pods which will open fire on the player with a ranged attack. The Pods will also detonate when they are killed and/or if one comes too close to them. They can be easily dispatched by severing their tentacle with the weapon of your choice. *The mines fired by the alternate mode for the line gun can make short work of a guardian as the lasers will dismember most of the anchoring appendages. *Stasis can be used in conjunction with the flamethrower to quickly dispatch Guardians, if well-timed. As soon as the Guardian releases its tentacles, use stasis on them and follow up with the flamethrower. This method can be used to kill a Guardian with less than 20 units of flame fuel. *On higher difficulties, it's a good idea to conserve your ammunition by ignoring the Pods until after the Guardian is dead. With a bit of timing, you can evade the projectiles they shoot while you sever the tentacles of the Guardian, and once the Guardian is dead, the Pods won't respawn. *One of the easier ways to kill a Mature Guardian in Dead Space 2 is to either use Stasis or a Stasis Canister when it's alerted and the tentacles emerge. One shot with a saw blade from the Ripper will sever all tentacles, killing it. *If you are using a Javelin Gun, you can shoot it in the torso and use it's secondary fire to dismember all tentacles. Note that using the secondary fire of the weapon uses up another javelin. *In Dead Space 2, ''a secondary fire from the Line Gun has the ability to kill a Guardian in one shot if aimed close enough to it. *In ''Dead Space 2, ''there is a Guardian that has Cysts around and in front of it. These Cysts are hard to see; one must be careful as, running past them will make them shoot out a pod that will hit Isaac, forcing him close to the Guardian, causing instant death. *Guardians in Dead Space 3 will no longer spit out Pods. Instead they eject pieces of Swarm, what makes tackling them a little easier. Line gun/Force gun combo is ideal for dealing with both of them. *Due to the distance at which fighting a Guardian is preferable, it can sometimes be difficult to tell if a Guardian has in fact died or not. It is advised to wait for a few seconds to see if the guardian ceases moving altogether, otherwise if it sprouts more tentacles or does not create an audible sigh, it is still alive. Death Scene thumb|Right|250px|Death Sequence by a Guardian *If Isaac Clarke, John Carver(in DS 3), or Gabe Weller(in Severed) comes too close to a Guardian, the Guardian will shoot a tentacle out of its chest, hitting his head and decapitating him. Because this happens so quickly, his body will try to feel what's left of the head (by reaching up to it in shock.) before stumbling to the ground, claimed by death. *Isaac's torso can also be taken out with a slash to the waist. *The tentacles can also rip Isaac apart after decapitation, although this is a rare occasion. *If Isaac is killed by an exploding Pod, he is thrown backward and usually has a limb or two missing. Trivia *After dispatching a Mature Guardian, if the player listens closely they can hear the human host give a sigh of relief at the end of the creature's death animation. *Immature Guardians are far more human in both appearance and the sounds they make. The body of an immature Guardian, while gray, is still recognizably human. They have demonstrated themselves to be capable of rudimentary vocalizations, such as screaming in pain if Isaac gets too close and the tendril are forced to move by the Corruption. Also, if the player listens carefully to the sounds made by an inactive immature Guardian, one cry sounds vaguely like the word, "Help," demonstrating a level of consciousness and human thought. *The Tentacle that a Mature Guardian uses to dispatch Isaac's head seems to originate out of the mouth of the Guardian. *A Guardian's wailing can be heard in a room in Chapter 2 of [[Dead Space (mobile)|''Dead Space (mobile)]] but strangely, it is nowhere to be found. As the room is revealed to be a hallucination, it is possible that the Guardian's cry was also one. *The Guardian is one of two once frequent Necromorphs to only appear on several occasions in Dead Space 2, the other being the Divider. *If you stand in front of a dead Guardian and punch it, the blood spatter will spray forward and the screen will darken as if it were spraying in your face. This can also be done with any other body, but is easiest with Guardians. *Guardians seem to mature in hours. For example in the Bio Lab on the Ishimura one manages to plant itself and grow in a matter of hours. *Even if Isaac uses Stasis on the Guardian and gets too close, another tentacle will come out and kill him. *In chapter 12 of'' Dead Space there is a circular door with 2 mature guardians on both sides with 2 dead bodies in front of them. Indicating that these 2 people may of been killed by them. *No immature Guardians are seen in ''Dead Space 2 and'' Dead Space 3''. *An Immature Guardian can be seen floating in Dead Space: Salvage. Oddly enough, it is not attached to any wall. This could simply be a creative error made by the artist. *Guardians in Dead Space 3 still scream as if the host was conscious, despite the crew being dead for hundreds of years. *Guardian appears only twice in Dead Space 3 which is rather strange considering that it was noticeably redesigned in both appearance and animations. *There is a rare glitch with the Guardian with if Isaac gets close to the Guardian. Isaac's head will be cut off and instead of an instant kill will be able to move around as if normal...but without a head. *Only one Guardian can be seen in Dead Space 2: Severed, and is assisted by Crawlers. *Guardians do not appear in Dead Space Extraction or Dead Space (Mobile), due to the games taking place before a mature Guardian could be formed in their respective catastrophes. *It is interesting to note that of all the potential victims a Guardian could fight and kill off, only Isaac Clarke, John Carver, and on one occasion, Gabe Weller, were able to successfully kill off the creature(s). Given its requirements of a wall and some of the Corruption needed to grow and be sustained, it may be possible that very few people aside from these 3 have ever encountered a Necromorph of this variant Gallery Guardian-full-body.jpg|"Mature" Guardian full-body view Immature_Guardian.jpg|An Immature Guardian. 788782-guardian super.jpg|A Mature Guardian stretches out its tentacles. guardian.png|The Guardian game model.Kyle Winkelman's Game Model. guardian_textured.jpg|Game render. Dead-Space-2008-10-25-18-30-55-51.png|A Guardian decapitating Isaac. Guardian tentacle.png|A tentacle Guardian uses to kill its enemies in close combat, this of a dead one. Dead_Space_3_Guardian.jpg|Guardian in Dead Space 3. guardian3.jpg|Guardian as it appears in Dead Space 3 Appearances *''Dead Space'' *''Dead Space 2'' :*''Dead Space 2: Severed'' *''Dead Space Salvage'' *''Dead Space 3'' Sources es:Guardian